Winterhawks continue strong start with 4-0 win over Blades

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SASKATOON — Mac Carruth made 26 saves Wednesday as the Portland Winterhawks shut out the Saskatoon Blades 4-0 in the Western Hockey League.

Presten Kopeck scored twice for Portland (5-3-1), while Oliver Bjorkstrand added a goal and two assists.

Seth Jones had the other goal for the Winterhawks and Tyler Wotherspoon chipped in with two assists of his own.

Andrey Makarov made 27 saves in defeat for Saskatoon (2-6-0).

Both teams had off nights with the man advantage. Portland was 0-for-3 on the power play, while Saskatoon wound up 0-for-3.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Press release from the Portland Winterhawks:

The Portland Winterhawks (5-3-1-0) earned a 4-0 shutout win over the Saskatoon Blades (2-6-0-0) Wednesday as they continued their road trip through the WHL’s East Division.

Mac Carruth was in net for the Hawks and earned his fifth career shutout, turning away all 26 Saskatoon shots he faced. It was Carruth’s first game of the season after being reassigned by the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs on Saturday.

After a scoreless first period, the Hawks exploded for four goals in the second period. Presten Kopeck started the scoring early in the frame with a pair of goals just 25 seconds apart to give Portland a 2-0 lead. They were Kopeck's first career WHL goals.

Oliver Bjorkstrand extended the lead at the 12:22 mark of the second with his fourth goal of the season to make it 3-0. Then late in the period, defenseman Seth Jones scored the first goal of his WHL career to give Portland a 4-0 lead going into the third period.

From there the Hawks shut down the Blades in the third period, allowing just one shot, to finish with the 4-0 victory.

Along with two goals from Kopeck, Bjorkstrand finished with a goal and two assists for three points, while Jones had an assist to go along with his goal to finish with two points. Tyler Wotherspoon also finished with two assists for Portland.

The Hawks’ road trip continues Friday when they take on the Prince Albert Raiders at 6 p.m. local time.